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april 29 2011 the whole world one exhibition for more news insights and discussions visit www.aitf.az

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report aitf 2011 10 aitf azerbaijan as a tourism-oriented country and promising tourism operator attracts attention of an annually growing number of the largest players of the global tourism industry in this regard the azerbaijan international tourism and travelling exhibition aitf 2011 and the 2nd republic-wide exhibition of domestic tourism held together vividly reflect the successes of the country serving as the best ground for familiarisation with the tourism capacity of world countries and for choosing a recreation destination this year aitf is celebrating two remarkable events at once the president s declaration of the year 2011 the year of tourism in azerbaijan and its own 10th anniversary over the past decade aitf has been deservedly recognized as the primary event of the tourism industry in the entire caspian sea region with important meetings held partnership agreements signed and new programs prices and destinations announced president ilham aliyev and first lady mehriban aliyeva s visit to the exhibition has become a remarkable occasion for all the participants of aitf 2011 during the vip tour the head of the state and first lady examined the stands which reflected the tourism potential of azerbaijan s different « » aitf 2011 2 aitf 2011 vip 2

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regions and foreign countries and got informed about the development status of tourism projects represented at the exhibition the president s participation in the 9th and 10th aitf international tourism exhibitions and in the two republic-wide domestic tourism exhibitions as well as his personal patronage over the implementation of many a project in the tourism industry broaden the horizons on the way to progress in tourism which creates exceptional opportunities for building up the economic capacity of our country the opening of the exhibition was preceded with an official ceremony held with the participation of the minister of culture and tourism mr abulfas garayev and the executive director of the ite group company mr edward strachan in his speech minister garayev underlined that the development of tourism is paid huge attention to as one of the main branches of non-oil sectors of economy the implementation of the 6-year state program on tourism has been started already its topicality is supported by the fact that the number of tourists visiting azerbaijan is increasing every year last year their number exceeded 1.5 million people with approximately 500 domestic hotels and camping zones at their disposal mr garayev underlined the role of domestic tourism 9 10 aitf ite group « 6 1,5 500 » 3

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report « aitf 10 aitf which reveals the potential of the country and informed that late in this year and early in the next year six 5-star hotels will be put into commission the minister noted that owing to its designation and unique design structure the wintersummer tourism complex established at the foot of shakhdag in the gusar region by order and supervision of president ilham aliyev is of much importance for the development of the tourism industry in conclusion mr minister congratulated everyone on the occasion of the jubilee and wished successful activity at the exhibition in his speech mr strachan said i am very glad to take part in the aitf exhibition our company is holding more than 10 tourism exhibitions throughout the world but aitf is particularly remarkable because domestic tourism is actively represented here alongside with the international companies as one of the visitors to this exhibition i am looking forward to getting to know the beautiful places in your country i would like to express my sincere gratitude to the ministry of culture and tourism for their active support to aitf and in organising the domestic tourism exhibition on the first day the information tour round the exhibition was headed by the minister of culture and tourism abulfas garayev the guests and numerous 5 aitf » 4

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visitors made an excursion to a colourful world of travelling created at the baku expo centre through the efforts of the organisers the bright exclusive styles used for decorating the stands and alluring offers of the exponents from all over the world appear quite attractive 230 companies from 24 countries and 83 tourism facilities from 15 regions of azerbaijan are taking part in aitf 2011 and in the 2nd republic-wide exhibition of domestic tourism respectively there are presentations and workshops held in the framework of the exhibition while the stands present not only products describing the tourism potential of the participant-countries but also entertainment programs culinary shows azerbaijan dances and world folk dances fine art works and earthenware according to the participants the saturated business and entertainment program have made the exhibition a useful event for tourism professionals and an interesting one for all those who love travelling and comfortable recreation only at an exhibition everyone who dreams of a holiday can not only get information about costeffective tours but also plunge into a virtual journey feel the national coloration and culture of the represented countries and in that way make up their mind in terms of the choice of destination and itinerary for recreation aitf 2011 230 24 2 ­ 83 15 5

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interview a new effective stage in tourism development abulfas garayev the minister of culture and tourism of the azerbaijan republic replying to daily news questions daily news the year 2011 was marked with a number of anniversary events in the field of culture and tourism mr.minister could you tell us about the main projects of the tourism year in azerbaijan this year we are celebrating the 5th anniversary since the establishment of the ministry of culture and tourism in the azerbaijan republic the 10th anniversary of azerbaijan s membership to unwto and the 10th anniversary of the aitf exhibition this fact proves the goal-orientedness of our state leadership s policy regarding tourism which is nowadays one of the priorities in azerbaijan s social and economical development the country is experiencing a true tourism boom which is primarily due to the acute attention of the president of azerbaijan to the development of this sector it should be noted that the year 2010 has been particularly remarkable in terms of tourism industry development in azerbaijan the president s order approving the 20102014 year state program for tourism development in the azerbaijan republic is the beginning of a new more effective stage in the development of this sector this order serves as a new impetus for the development of our country s tourism sector in correspondence with the global standards the president s participation in the 9th international tourism exhibition and in the 1st all-republic domestic tourism exhibition his profound interest in the development of tourism and valuable rec 2011 5 10 unwto aitf 2010 « 2010-2014 » ix i 6

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ommendations have positively influenced the implementation of projects in this sector and created new opportunities for progress in the tourism industry which possesses exclusive capacity in building up our country s economic power azerbaijan has been actively developing its infrastructure recently and according to international experts in 10 to 15 years time it will be able to meet high global standards and in the nearest 4 to 5 years a 10 percent annual growth will be guaranteed to azerbaijan in the tourism industry as one of the major projects in the field of tourism implemented by order and personal supervision of president ilham aliyev the winter-summer tourism complex at the foot of shahdag in the gusar region is of particular significance both by designation and due to its unique design structure currently up to 50 of the first phase of activities has been completed including laying of communication electric power water and gas supply lines and highways capable of serving 10 thousand tourists daily the project is implemented by the most progressive companies of austria sweden turkey usa italy and united arab emirates not so long ago testing of the first descending ski track at the site was con ducted with the participation of the president ilham aliyev and first lady mehriban aliyeva also four more downhill ski tracks were put in commission for the winter season of 2011-2012 by summer we intend to complete the construction of the first hotel by next winter there will be conditions for receiving first tourists among the numerous activities targeted at tourism development the construction of brand hotels in the capital city such as hilton jw marriott four season dedeman hotels resorts international fairmont venu bilgah hotel baku is of particular significance hotel complexes built by famous private companies as well as the tourism capacity developed in gabala draw attention they manifest the growing attention of global scale investors to azerbaijan s tourism potential the development 10-15 4-5 10 50 10 2011-2012 4 hilton marriott four seasons fairmont venu bilgah hotel baku 7

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interview 25 2006 2010 of a hotel network meeting the international standards entails the necessity to train human resources to engage in this field in this connection serious attention is paid to training and advanced training of tourism specialists in may of 2010 the first class of the azerbaijan tourism institute established by presidential decree as of august 25 2006 graduated the successful international policy at state level fortified azerbaijan s positions in the modern world naturally it is creating vast opportunities for popularization of our national culture throughout the world our ashig art famous mugham and khanende have been included in unesco s list of non-material cultural heritage these facts demonstrate that the saz and mugham art has overstepped the national boundaries and occupied its rightful place among worldwide valuables in 2010 the azerbaijan republic was selected a member to the intergovernmental committee for protection of unesco s non-material cultural heri tage at the session in kenya it was resolved to include azerbaijan carpet making art into the representative list of mankind s non-material cultural heritage this decision once again proved at international level that the carpet-making art is one of the most ancient constituents of azerbaijan cultural heritage the president of the heydar aliyev foundation the good will ambassador for unesco 2010 8

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and isesco and milli medjlis national parliament member mehriban aliyeva demonstrated genuine commitment to the achievement of this victory today azerbaijan is strengthening cooperation with 28 countries in the field of tourism drafts of agreements on cooperation with russia austria great britain switzerland sweden hungary macedonia san-marino malta croatia argentina mexico cuba israel japan uae saudi arabia iran iraq bahrain oman korea brunei indonesia malaysia philippines tunisia and china have already been developed apart from that interesting 5 2010 projects were implemented in 2010 in the framework of intergovernmental agreements on cooperation in the field of tourism signed in the past 5 years with greece kazakhstan jordan france tajikistan egypt lithuania morocco syria and latvia the ministry of culture and tourism is constantly implementing activities towards performance of the obligations under the signed documents as well as makes appropriate efforts to fortify the bilateral relations with other countries in order to present azerbaijan s tourism capacity in the countries of the persian gulf and in kuwait preparatory activities are implemented for signing the memorandum of understanding between the dnata company and the ministry of culture and tourism large amounts of ad 28 9

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interview report 2001 aitf 2002 aitf 2002 26 5 230 25 61 aitf vertising products about azerbaijan in the english german russian french arabic japanese chinese and other languages such as booklets guides and maps leaflets disks and the azerbaijan review magazine with its special editions are distributed in the course of international exhibitions and fairs and through the embassies of the azerbaijan republic to foreign countries also short information videos are broadcasted on the leading television channels of the world such as cnn euronews travel channel bbc cnbc and national geographic in order to promote our republic s tourism potential in 2010 the ministry took part in important international tourism exhibitions in the cities of vienna istanbul vilnius berlin moscow kiev beijing manama dubai el-kuwait paris and tokyo what role to your opinion will the 10th anniversary azerbaijan international tourism and travelling exhibition aitf 2011 play in the implementation of the tourism year program in 2001 our all-national leader heydar aliyev wisely evaluated the role of the tourism capacity in the overall social and economic development of our country and made important decisions regarding this sector which were successfully expanded and extrapolated in the following years the state programs approved by the president ilham aliyev strengthened our country s tourism sector and were implemented to the fullest it should be noted that holding of aitf in azerbaijan has already become a good tradition the exhibition is held with the official support of the ministry of culture and tourism world tourism organisation azerbaijan tourism association and national confederation of entrepreneurs employers organisations in the azerbaijan republic the exhibition has been held in baku since 2002 it is a pleasant fact that the number of foreign exponents taking part in aitf is growing every year as compared to the event held in 2002 with 26 companies from 5 countries present the current an «azerbaijan review ­ » cnn euronews travel channel bbc cnbc national geographic 2010 x « » aitf 2011 10

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niversary exhibition in baku has assembled over 230 companies from 25 world countries these companies activity covers 61 trends in tourism despite the global crisis which has affected the tourism field among others throughout the world azerbaijan has managed to maintain the growth dynamics of the number of tourists entering the country this fact also demonstrates that aitf undoubtedly helps solve such tasks as demonstration of the existing tourism potential of the country promotes the development of different kinds of tourism and activates the small and medium-size entrepreneurship in the field of tourism as it annually presents the achievements of the modern tourism infrastructure in azerbaijan such events as aitf are of particular significance for the developing tourism industry of azerbaijan as they increase foreign investors and tourism business activists interest in our country large tourism forums always stir the interest of a wide circle of specialists as they offer an opportunity to communicate exchange experience get familiarised with new business projects and create ground for advertising and commercial activity aitf has become just the kind of event for the caucasian region caspian sea basin and central asia anniversary exhibition events always stand out with their bright coloration in what way does the azerbaijan ministry of culture and tourism which has provided official support to aitf throughout the years participate in this event the 2nd all-republic exhibition of domestic tourism organised by the azerbaijan ministry of culture and tourism will take place together with aitf this year the exposition will present approximately 100 companies from 18 regions of azerbaijan and demonstrate the bright coloration of the regional recreation zones sanatoria and hotels as well as make the participants and guests of aitf 2011 familiar with the diverse and rich folklore cuisine and traditions of the azerbaijan people all within the boundaries of one exposition area the widely represented sector of azerbaijan regional tourism is reflected in the expositions of recreation zones sanatoria and hotels this anniversary exhibition will irrefutably play a huge role in the further development of our country s tourism potential as it has attracted a large number of participants this year the decision to hold the international and domestic exhibitions at a single site of the new baku expo centre seems a good idea i wish all the aitf 2011 participants success in their activity strengthening of friendly relations new business contacts and realisation of promising ideas aitf aitf aitf aitf 2 100 15 aitf 2011 ­ aitf 2011 11

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organisers celebrating the jubiley est moments of aitf over the years of its activity and what does the tenth anniversary exhibition offer its participants this remarkable event for the tourism sector of the country will undoubtedly enter the history as a stage of striking transformations and one can already forecast the dynamics of the exhibition s future growth president ilham aliyev s visit to last year s exhibition was a significant event in the history of the exhibition and it certainly considerably boosted the status of the exhibition to the pleasure of all event participants aitf 2011 is hosting 230 companies representing 24 countries and 61 trends in tourism since its conception aitf has hosted a total of about 900 companies traditionally from the very first day the exhibition has been held with the official support of the ministry aitf 2011 the project manager khayal aliyeva telling about the participants of the exhibition aitf 2011 the programs arranged to celebrate the anniversary and the tourism industry news this year aitf is celebrating two remarkable occasions at once declaration of 2011 the year of tourism in azerbaijan and the 10th anniversary of the exhibition how would you comment on the bright aitf 2011 10 aitf aitf 2011 230 24 61 aitf 900 12

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of culture and tourism of the azerbaijan republic and enjoyed the support of the world tourism organisation national confederation of entrepreneurs employers organisations of the azerbaijan republic and association of international tourism exhibitions today the event is presenting bright stands attracting visitors attention with their national colorguests with different destinations of tourism thus the seychelles mauritius and maldives will be presented in the programs of luxury tourism medicinal tourism represented by sanatoria and spa resorts can be learned about at the stands of azerbaijan russia ukraine and czechia for the first time in azerbaijan the exhibition will uncover new destinations to laos luxury tourism spa aitf 2011 ation entertainment program and of course with profitable and unforgettable travel programs presenting a diversity of routes the exhibition familiarises its cambodia hungary vietnam myanmar and mexico aitf s striking peculiarity is the large number of national stands which declared their intended participation 13

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organisers report aitf «gartour» «silk aitf azefon-vodafone caspel aitf in the current exhibition at last year s event thus the exhibition is presenting the national stands of greece georgia dagestan egypt india lithuania turkey and czechia turkey is acting as the country-partner of aitf for the second year running turkey s tourism potential coloration and been signed with the azal company lately to make it the official airline of all our international exhibitions in azerbaijan including aitf among the partners of the exhibition are the azefonvodafone and caspel companies what role does aitf play in promoting and reway travel» «silk way travel» 25 aitf unique offers are presented at its national stand at the exhibition among the sponsors of the exhibition are the tourism companies gartour and silk way travel for many years the silk way travel company has occupied one of the largest exposition areas at the event this year the company has decided to increase the area of the stand by 25 and is among the sponsors of the exhibition there is another news worth noting a long-term contract has flecting the development of regional tourism and in attracting investors attention to azerbaijan s potential over the years aitf has rightfully won the status of the main event of the tourism industry in the entire caspian sea region with important meetings held partnership agreements signed and new tourism projects prices and destinations announced in this connection of course it is important to emphasise the role of the 2nd republic-wide exhibition of do azal 2 14

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mestic tourism organised by the ministry of culture and tourism of azerbaijan and held together with our event at the same site for the second year running approximately 100 companies from 18 regions shall demonstrate the bright coloration of the regional recreation zones sanatoria and hotels draw investors attention to azerbaijan and to aitf promoting their participation in our large scale tourism projects on the days of the exhibition open presentations of national groups-participants of aitf will take place at the national stands at these events the delegates will broadly demonstrate 100 18 aitf of azerbaijan make the guests and participants of aitf 2011 familiar with the diverse and rich folklore cuisine and traditions of the azerbaijan people and present new projects and trends in the field of active recreation and adventures prospective ideas for the the tourism potential of their countries and tell about the most interesting and elite places of recreation and entertainment the presentations will be accessible for all exhibition visitors we know a special anniversary program has development of regional tourism construction of hotels of different categories improvement of recreation zones improvement of quality of hotel services etc all these of course will been developed by the exhibition organisers together with the ministry of culture and tourism of the azerbaijan republic yes there are a number of surprises and en aitf 2011 aitf 15

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